He found a job working for a photo finisher where he "learned a lot about mixing chemicals."

Adams took his first pictures of Yosemite with a Brownie camera when he was 14. As an adult he would get up before dawn and travel to the park's farthest corners.  He sometimes took 60 pounds of equipment packed on a donkey and carried up a mountain trail; he sometimes slept on the edge of a canyon to be at the right spot when the sun rose.

Technique:

1) simplified scene, using only black, white and tones of gray. Used tones to unify picture and give it drama. "Played" these tones of light the way a musician plays notes: a kind of music in black and white.

2) timing: studied subject (valley. etc.) in all its moods and waited for the most dramatic mood (which lasts only a few moments).

3) quality: interested not only in art of photography but also in science. Had deep knowledge of light, camera and darkroom; knew how to get exact tones he wanted in black and white.

Photography came to U.S. in 1839.  At first it was used mainly to record people and events. But in the 1890s photographers began taking pictures that were more like art. When Adams began his career in 1930, fuzzy, hand-tinted photos were very popular. Adams thought honest black-and-white photography was an art in itself. With others he established Group f/64.  He frequently spoke up for straight photography.

His favorite place to photograph was the mountains of the western U.S. where light and weather changed from minute to minute, creating different moods.

Framing (choosing what to include in photo) was very important.

What is left out as important as what is put in.

Choices:

Where to stand?

Center of interest?

When? (What kind of light?)

Should all or just one object be in focus?

Adams used a process called "visualization" (knowing in advance how the photo should look).  His is remembered for his "zone method" of exposure and printing.